WARREN GATLAND’S Wales are set to play their key group game at the next World Cup at the home of English football.

The Grand Slam champions are gearing up for their encounter against the other tier one nation in their pool – which could be any one of their Six Nations rivals, the southern hemisphere big three, or Argentina – to be taken to Wembley.

It will be the first time Wales have played at the iconic venue since famously beating England with a last-gasp Scott Gibbs try in 1999.

Wembley has since been completely rebuilt, but while Wales lost their fair share of matches there while making it their temporary home as the Millennium Stadium was being developed, most Welsh supporters will have fond memories of journeying up the M4 to support their men in red.

And in a separate boost, Wales have all but won the right to stage three out of the four 2015 group clashes at their Millennium Stadium fortress, despite opposition from the powerful southern hemisphere big three.

New Zealand, South Africa and Australia have lobbied against Gatland’s men playing any of their matches in Cardiff, saying it gives them an unfair advantage in a tournament being hosted by England.

But WRU chairman David Pickering has told the Western Mail that Wales has “won the argument” to base themselves predominantly at home and conceded that it makes economic sense to maximise gate receipts at a bigger ground for the plum tie of the pool.

Pickering, a member of the International Rugby Board Council said: “We had a job persuading the council that it would be the right thing for Wales to play some of their home games here in Cardiff.

“But I think we’ve won that argument.

“We won’t be able to play all our games here because there is an economic argument that the 2015 World Cup needs to generate huge sums of money because the game is developing and needs a huge amount of support. It will be the most successful World Cup and part of that will be about optimising returns.”

And on the plans to make a return to Wembley, Pickering added: “If we play another tier one nation it will be more beneficial to play at a bigger stadium.

“If we played at Wembley then 90,000 people could see the game as opposed to 76,000. The corporate returns would also be higher in the London market than in Cardiff.

“So if there is a tier one game involving Wales you can understand the corporate argument for taking it to Wembley.

“But also a concern for many countries is that Wales are becoming such a force on the international stage that they don’t want us to have any competitive advantage. This is still to be determined, but it is the likely outcome.”

Wembley is increasingly being favoured as an ideal venue for big rugby matches.

Only last weekend Harlequins and Saracens fought out a compelling Aviva Premiership match in front of a world record attendance of 83,761.

The Ospreys’ Heineken Cup clash with Saracens also took place at Wembley, a crowd of 41,000-plus turning up.

Wales took their matches to Wembley between November 1997 and April 1999 after their old Cardiff Arms Park home had been knocked down and the Millennium Stadium was being constructed.

They played six times underneath the twin towers, beating England and Scotland, but losing to New Zealand, South Africa, France and Ireland.

The last game played on April 11, 1999 saw them defeat old enemy England 32-31 with that breathtaking Gibbs try, which was famously converted by Neil Jenkins.

The Gibbs-Jenks double act denied Clive Woodward’s red Rose the Grand Slam as the travelling hordes of Welsh fans went crazy, turning Wembley Stadium into a sea of red.